Poor Little Rich Kids: Trust Fund for Michael's Kids is EMPTY!

[marv2]

This current bit of news goes some way in explaining why the Jackson's have been suspicious of the lawyers handling Michael Jackson's Estate:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/planned-trust-fund-michael-jackson-children-remains-empty-years-king-pop-tragic-demise-article-1.1150263

[jazzy j]

I guess that's Diana Ross' fault too right Marv

[jobeterob]

Katherine was to receive a $25000 a month allowance from the estate but she, Joe and Jermaine are all still subject to a judgment arising from the Moonie affair when Michael was being harrassed by them to appear in Korea. He never appeared and he returned all the gifts he had received to entice him; but all the rest of the Jacksons had spent what they received from the Moonies, couldn't return the gifts, got sued and to this day are still being pursued by the Moonie company, Seygte Inc., I believe is the name.

Michael had been sued 1100 times prior to his death and was deeply in debt. All of the Jacksons except Janet had either gone bankrupt or had financial problems.

But nonetheless, the Michael Jackson estate has started rolling in the dough as a result of the good deal with Cirque du Soleil and This Is It. Probably all the bills will eventually be paid and there will be money for the children. Jackson still has an interest in a lot of publishing .......I think.

But there will never be money for the siblings.

And now the executors will be paying Katherine and TJ and eventually just TJ, to raise the children.

Katherine is consulted on decisions about where to use Michaels music ~ and she was very thrilled with Cirque du Soleil and This Is It ~ which brought the estate $60 million.

[jobeterob]

Companies involved agree to pay the estate $2.5 million for copyright violations
"This settlement seems appropriate for all concerned," Jackson's estate says
Jackson estate accused Howard Mann of "wholesale misappropriation" of copyrights
Mann's company published Katherine Jackson's book "Never Can Say Goodbye"
Los Angeles [[CNN) -- A bitter legal dispute between Michael Jackson's estate and a business partner of the late pop icon's mother was settled Tuesday, just before a trial on the matter was to begin, lawyers said.

In the end, the lawyer for Katherine Jackson, who was not a party to the lawsuit, mediated the agreement, which gives the estate $2.5 million from the several companies involved.

A federal judge had already ruled that Howard Mann and several associated companies violated Jackson's copyrights, which are controlled by his estate executors, and the only question for a jury was how much should be paid in damages.

"In light of the court's rulings for the estate on summary judgment, this settlement seems appropriate for all concerned," estate lawyers Howard Weitzman and Zia Modabber said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday.

Mann's company published Katherine Jackson's 150-page coffee table book "Never Can Say Goodbye, The Katherine Jackson Story" two years ago and established a website -- MichaelJacksonSecretVault.com -- that the estate argued illegally used Jackson's images and lyrics.

"This was a long, complex and difficult litigation that in the end will likely be equitable for Mrs. Jackson and the other parties involved," Mann said. "This settlement would not have been possible without Perry Sanders [[Katherine Jackson's lawyer), who worked to bridge quite a distance."

"I really really appreciated the reasonableness of all parties involved, and everyone is served well by getting this wrapped up," said Sanders, who helped mediate the settlement this week.

The resolution of the dispute represents a new twist in the contentious relationship between the executors who control Michael Jackson's estate and the members of the Jackson family and some of their business associates.

Mann's involvement with the Jacksons began when he partnered with Henry Vaccaro, who bought a large amount of Jackson memorabilia purchased at an auction after Katherine and Joe Jackson's 1999 bankruptcy. A lien will be placed on those photos and other assets until a portion of the settlement is paid, a lawyer said.

Katherine Jackson was not a defendant, but her name and those of her husband, Joe Jackson, and children Janet, Randy, Tito and Jermaine Jackson were on the defense witness list.

The estate accused Mann of "wholesale misappropriation" of Michael Jackson copyrights and acting with "arrogant disregard" for the estate's rights by using unauthorized images

While the estate claimed the book sold about 25,000 copies for $1.5 million in the first two days, Mann's lawyers contended "actual sales are very minimal and the defendant's businesses have suffered a major net loss."

The copyright violations also included screen shots from the "This Is It" documentary about the singer's last days and other "misappropriated" images, including Jackson's "Smooth Criminal Lean," which Mann's company used in its corporate logo.

Mann's website, which the judge already ordered to be taken offline, "does absolutely everything in its power to suggest to its visitors that it is the hub for all things Michael Jackson, and that it is sanctioned and supported by the estate, when in fact it is neither," the estate argued.

[arrr&bee]

I guess the little tykes will have to open a lemonade stand!!

[jobeterob]

I guess the little tykes will have to open a lemonade stand!!

It'll be a chain.

These kids should come out of this with some significant dollars in the end; they just need to keep the impecunious aunts and uncles at bay, not to mention Joe.

[marv2]

I guess the little tykes will have to open a lemonade stand!!

hehehehehehehehe,,,,,,,,!!!!!!

[jobeterob]

Jackson shared bond with 'very dear friend Diana Ross'Story Highlights
Michael Jackson, Diana Ross met when he was 9 years old

Jackson wrote in will he wanted Ross to take care of his kids if mother was unable

Essence managing editor: Pair shared a bond, Ross is a great mother

Jackson told Ebony in 1982: "I can tell her anything, the most private of secrets"
updated 8:54 a.m. EDT, Fri July 3, 2009Next Article in Entertainment »

Read VIDEO
By Mallory Simon
CNN


[[CNN) -- Michael Jackson and Diana Ross shared a bond that he apparently thought would last long after his death.


Michael Jackson and Diana Ross at the 1981 American Music Awards.

1 of 2 In his will Jackson wanted Ross -- who took him under her wing and who he called one of his dearest friends -- to take care of his children if his mother, Katherine Jackson, was not alive or was unable to do so.

While the public may have been surprised at Jackson's decision, the two have a long history together.

"I think it's very interesting," Jermaine Jackson, Michael's brother told CNN's Larry King on Thursday. "There's been a long, close relationship with Michael and Diana for many, many years. And I think it's great." Watch Jermaine Jackson on Michael's death »

The star of the Supremes met Michael Jackson when he was a 9-year-old sensation after she saw him perform with his family at the Apollo Theater.

She helped catapult The Jackson 5 to stardom when her name was used to release their debut album, "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5."

After The Jackson 5's debut album success, the pair appeared together in a variety of sketches, sang at each other's concerts, performed at the Hollywood Palace together, and starred in "The Wiz" together with her as Dorothy to his Scarecrow.

"You see skits from variety shows where they are doing Frank Sinatra songs and Casablanca," Emil Wilbekin, managing editor of Essence.com and a founding member of Vibe magazine under Quincy Jones, told CNN.

"Although she was older than Michael, they had a real connection and that connection, I think, and that friendship really moved throughout his career."

In a 1982 interview for the Ebony Jet Showcase, Jackson said he considered Ross, now 65 years old, to be one of his true personal friends. Watch how Jackson, Ross became close »

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"Diana Ross, very dear friend Diana Ross," he said when asked who he considered to be his closest friends. "She is the kind of person, I can tell her anything, the most private of secrets. And she tells me her secrets as well."

That friendship was something of a motherly love on Ross' part and an idolization from Jackson, according to Wilbekin. And the bond they formed could explain why Jackson chose her to care for his kids, if his mother could not, Wilbekin said.

Ross raised five children of her own who grew up to become extremely "normal and successful children of a superstar," Wilbekin said.

"The other thing interesting about Diana and Michael's relationship: They both were a part of groups, they both ended up eclipsing their groups, so they had a shared experience that nobody else could really realize," he said. "I think in that they had a very special bond."

The two also were the subject of gossip regarding the nature of their relationship, fueled by Jackson's song "Dirty Diana." But Jackson said the hit was about groupies.

Jackson also starred in "Diana," produced in 1981 by Diana Ross Productions -- her first TV special not produced by Motown Productions.

In that show, Ross introduced Jackson as "the talent," and "my baby Michael Jackson" before the two sang "Ease on Down the Road," and other songs.

But it was their banter that received most of the attention.

"I knew you were going to be a star, I really did," Ross said to Jackson during the special. "What I didn't know, what I didn't know, is that you were going to get so sexy."

Jackson, in turn, said he always knew Ross would be sexy, and then motioned for the crowd when he asked, "Don't you guys think she's sexy?"

They were so close that when he first underwent plastic surgery, some speculated he was trying to look like his mentor.

Regardless of that speculation, it's clear the two shared a connection deep enough that Jackson trusted her with his children in the event of his death.

"The point that nobody has brought up -- Diana Ross happens to be a phenomenal mother. [Her kids are] kind of balanced, normal celebrity kids. And I think that's the part people aren't really looking at," Wilbekin said.

While some people may have been surprised another Jackson family member didn't follow Katherine Jackson in the will, Wilbekin said he believes that by picking Diana Ross, "he named someone who was super-responsible."

And because Jackson's children, have been growing up in the limelight because of their father, he may have wanted someone familiar with that, Wilbekin said.


"That just shows Michael's foresight, his emotional wisdom and his ultimate love for his family and protecting them," he said. "These are not normal kids, they did not live a normal life, and she totally completely understands that." Ross has not spoken about Jackson's death outside of a statement released on her behalf.

"I can't stop crying, this is too sudden and shocking," Ross says in the statement. "I am unable to imagine this. My heart is hurting. I am in prayer for his kids and the family."

[midnightman]

The fund is being kept until they all reach legal age, I thought that was understood here. Why would they receive the money now? That's not what was requested in Michael's will. They're doing the same thing with Whitney's trust fund for Bobbi Krissy...